What is Mail Merge?

Apache OpenOffice 4.1 Writer Guide

Chapter 11: Using Mail Merge

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• What is Mail Merge?
• Creating the Data Source
• Registering a Data Source
• Creating a Form Letter
  • Editing Merged Documents
• Printing Mailing Labels
  • Preparing for Printing
  • Removing Blank Lines from Labels
  • Printing
  • Editing a Saved File of Mailing Labels
• Printing Envelopes
  • Setting up Envelopes for Printing
  • Merging and Printing the Envelopes
  • Creating an Envelope Template
• Using the Mail Merge Wizard to Create a Form Letter
  • Step 1: Select Starting Document
  • Step 2: Select Document Type
  • Step 3: Insert Address Block
    • Selecting the Data Source (address list)
    • Selecting the Address Block
    • Matching the Fields
  • Step 4: Create Salutation
  • Step 5: Adjust Layout
  • Step 6: Edit Document and Insert Extra Fields
  • Step 7: Personalize Documents
  • Step 8: Save, Print or Send

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What is Mail Merge?

Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Writer provides very useful features to create and print:

• Multiple copies of a document to send to a list of different recipients (form letters)
• Mailing labels
• Envelopes

All these capabilities, though different in application, are based around the same concept – that of a registered “data source”, from which Writer determines the information necessary to complete each individual member of a set of documents.

This chapter describes the entire process. The steps include:

1. How to create and register a data source.
2. How to create and print form letters, mailing labels, and envelopes.
3. Optionally, how to save the output in an editable file, instead of printing it directly.